Tag: lieberman warner

This past Saturday, Irwin Hall at St. Olaf was full of St. Olaf students and faculty along with a handful of Carleton students eagerly waiting to hear what Amy Klobuchar had to say on climate change. She began by showing some fun video clips about her visit to Greenland last summer in which, decked out in rain gear, she floats in fishing boats around icebergs. As the video is geared towards kids, Klobuchar frequently uses it when she speaks at schools about climate change.

Though Greenland’s melting ice sheets may not seem directly linked to the lives of Minnesotans, Klobuchar made the issue if rising global temperature hit home by drawing a connection with the decreasing water levels that we are currently experiencing in the Great Lakes. She explained that barge traffic is an essential part of the economy and supplies many jobs in northern Minnesota. The dropping water level of Lake Superior has already done damage to the barge traffic industry.

When Klobuchar approached the issue of what is being done to address such problems, she made it clear that leadership is coming from individual states, not Washington. It was evident that she feels that Minnesota is doing its part to be a leader on climate change. She was beaming as she referenced Minnesota’s renewable energy standard which commits the state to using 25% renewables by the year 2025.

It seems like everybody’s got a blog these days. Over at the Congressional Budget Office Director’s Blog is a newly-released cost estimate of S. 2191, otherwise known as the America’s Climate Security Act of 2007 or the Lieberman-Warner climate bill. This Senate bill proposes a series (well, two) of greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade systems which initially gifts permits to greenhouse gas emitters (such as power plants, any facility importing or producing petroleum and/or natural gas, and any facility which produces a certain amount of hydrofluorocarbons) while, over its decade-long implementation, segueing to an auction-based permit system. The cost estimate of the system between 2009 and 2018? 1.19 trillion dollars (read the whole report here). This large influx of revenue would, however, be allocated and spent by the government. The bill allocates:

• $64 billion to the Energy Assistance Fund, which would support various energy assistance programs for low-income families;
• $12 billion to the Climate Change Worker Training Fund, which would promote training programs for “green-collar jobs;”
• $31 billion to create the Adaptation Fund, which will support research and education to assist fish and wildlife in adapting to climate change;
• $16 billion to the Climate Change and National Security Fund;
• $6 billion to the Energy Independence Acceleration Fund, among other allocations.

With such immense costs of implementation for the private sector (but also noble programs like the aforementioned which are funded as a result), most of these costs will be passed onto consumers through higher prices. Given this reality, the American public may not be so keen for the bill’s passage. We at Shrinking Footprints, however, will closely monitor its progress throughout the remainder of the congressional session.

Higher Education
1. 10 kW Solar Array Installed at Harvard Forest
2. St. Mary’s College of MD Purchases 100% Renewable Energy Credits
3. Duke Launches New Corporate Sustainability Initiative
4. Middlebury to Open Hillcrest Environmental Center

National and International News

5. Most ready for ‘green sacrifices’
6. Climate bill seen as sign of political shift
7. Rental car companies start carbon-offset initiative
8. Court ruling could save oil firms billions
9. Mayors, Wal-Mart Team to Lower Green Building Products’ Cost
10. NRG and Powerspan Explore Large-Scale CO2 Capture in Texas
11. Zipcar and Flexcar Driven Together Car-Sharing Leaders Expect to Turn Profit Within a Year

Continue by clicking the “read more” link below